The method includes a fastener to aid and enhance the distribution and functionality of advertisements. The current form of distributing advertisements door to door is inefficient and ineffective due to design flaws and cost.
Traditional die cut door hangers were originally designed to hang on round doorknobs and are not a very secure way to distribute to every door. Round door knobs have mostly been replaced with a modern variety of door knobs and levers in various shapes and sizes. The door hanger distributor wastes time struggling to attach the traditional die cut door hangers to knobs and handles that simply won't accept the design. Traditional die cut door hangers may become torn and messy making it look more like trash resulting in the customers disgust and final decision to just discard the piece altogether. The traditional die cut door hanger easily falls or blows off the doorknob and becomes litter in the customers' lawn which irritates the customer and frustrates the advertisers. Traditional die cut door hangers use up a lot of crucial and valuable design space on both the front and back of the advertisement to allow for the hole and slit used to attach the hanger to the door knob. Between lost advertising space and not being able to securely hang the advertisement on every door, this method of door hanger distribution is neither efficient nor cost effective.
Another common form of distributing advertisements door to door is the use of rubber bands. Using rubber bands to distribute door hangers is cumbersome and time consuming. The design of the rubber band does not make it easy to insert the band through the hole used in the advertisement that accommodates the rubber band. The material used to make rubber bands has memory so when trying to change its circular shape, by pressing two sides of the band together to form a thin enough portion to insert through the hole, it becomes awkward and time consuming because the rubber band is fighting the attempt to change its shape. Rubber bands typically used to distribute door hangers break easily if pulled too hard to stretch around larger handles or objects; and, may tear the advertisement. If the rubber band is small enough to provide a snug fit around the door knob, it is typically too small to handle without tearing the advertisement while looping the band through the hole placed in the material to accommodate the band. Once the rubber band is attached to the advertisement there are still more issues encountered during distribution. Due to the rubber band being one continuous piece, while attempting to attach the advertisement to the door by stretching the rubber band to fit around the knob, stress is placed on the advertisement causing it to tear and not securely stay on the door. On the other hand, if the rubber bands are too large they do not provide a snug enough fit to allow the piece to securely stay on the knob. The labor and material waste are not cost effective for advertisers or door hanger distributors. Ultimately rubber bands are not an efficient way of distributing advertisements door to door due to the design flaws and nature of the method.
Whether the distributor is using a traditional die cut or rubber band as their method to distribute the door hangers, neither option is conducive for generating high return results, because the advertisement cannot be displayed in the consumers view on their refrigerator, file cabinet, or other surface. One method advertisers use to increase return results, is to attach magnets to advertisements. This method is typically expensive and ineffective as magnets only adhere to magnetic surfaces. Today, so many homes have refrigerators with non-magnetic surfaces, such as stainless steel and plastic or coated material, the magnets simply aren't effective.